1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic commerce systems and methods, and, more particularly, to such systems and methods that improve a potential customer's likelihood of reaching a particular electronic commerce site.
2. Description of Related Art
In electronics communications systems, such as the Internet, it is known to have commercial venues, known as “web sites,” or simply “sites,” that are hosted by a vendor and typically offer a product or range of products for sale. A potential customer may locate a particular site by any of a number of methods, including entering an exact domain name of the site that is either known in advance or guessed at from a known trademark of the product desired and/or its manufacturer.
Alternatively, a search engine may be used to locate a vendor of the product desired. This method can be, however, singularly unsatisfying, as a search based upon a common word will often yield hundreds of search “hits,” most of which turn out to be fruitless owing to facetious or frivolous linkages established by an owner or builder of the site. Ferreting out a useful connection can be extremely time-consuming and frustrating, often leading the user to abandon the search entirely and choose a low-tech purchasing option, or to turn to a site already known just because of ease and familiarity. In either of these cases, a vendor that does not enjoy widespread name recognition from long-term existence or from having spent prodigiously on advertising will likely lose out on a possible sale. In fact, it has been the subject of widespread reports that even a large marketing budget does not confer immunity from financial woes, as witnessed by the recent spate of falling stock prices in the e-commerce arena among the so-called “dot-com's.”